Juv Achilles tang color

Fishfinder · Aug 13, 2017

i have a very small Achilles tang. It doesn't even have its orange teardrop yet. Is it normal for a small juveniles color to not be completely black? He is black towards the back and lighter towards the front. He is healthy and has acting/eating great since I've had him. Just didn't know if his color would change as he matured. Thanks

Fishfinder · Aug 13, 2017

Any input?

Maritimer · Aug 13, 2017

I'm not sure, but there's a good possibility that either @eatbreakfast or @4FordFamily will know - so I've paged them for you!

~Bruce

Nellynel21 · Aug 13, 2017

Yes is normal .. Yo will see more the orange when They start growing ..mind dint had the orange tear drop . And started showing it when he was about 2.5"-3"

4FordFamily · Aug 14, 2017

They should still be pretty dark, lighter color in Achilles (if permanent) is often stress. Watch for disease closely. Is the fish putting on weight well?

Juvenile Achilles are very fragile, sensitive to nearly everything. Significantly more so than adults, IME

Fishfinder · Aug 14, 2017

Ok thanks for the help. He seems disease free. He's on day 20 of CP. but his coloration has been this way since day 1. He eats like a pig

eatbreakfast · Aug 15, 2017

4FordFamily said:
They should still be pretty dark, lighter color in Achilles (if permanent) is often stress. Watch for disease closely. Is the fish putting on weight well?

Juvenile Achilles are very fragile, sensitive to nearly everything. Significantly more so than adults, IME

I agree with this.

4FordFamily · Aug 15, 2017

Fishfinder said:
Ok thanks for the help. He seems disease free. He's on day 20 of CP. but his coloration has been this way since day 1. He eats like a pig

Sometimes Achilles lose some color with stress due to medication. If behaving normally and eating I wouldn't worry.

What's the tank temp? Tangs also lighten in color with stress for higher temps. Achilles are a 77-80 fish. I shoot for 78.

Another thing could be oxygen saturation-- Achilles have very high oxygen needs. Maybe add a bubbler or point pump at water surface to increase oxygen. See if those things are helpful at all.

Fishfinder · Aug 15, 2017

The QT is 77.0 and has 2 air stones in it. Hopefully he'll darken up after it's done. Thanks for the response. I assumed it was because he was so young. No orange on him yet.